Clearview AI, Used by Police to Find Criminals, Now in Public Defenders’ Hands

The problem with facial recognition, beyond bias concerns around how accurate it is across race, age and gender, Ms. Musa said, is a lack of transparency from law enforcement about how often it is used. Because any match the technology returns is considered only a lead, and not probable cause for an arrest, the software’s use is often not disclosed to defendants or their counsel, said Ms. Musa, which makes it harder to defend against.

“You don’t address issues in a broken criminal legal system by layering technology on them,” Ms. Musa said.

Mr. Greco, with the Legal Aid Society, said his organization was unlikely to use Clearview. He believes the company is offering its facial recognition tool to defense lawyers “in order to gain some form of legitimacy in its use in the criminal legal system.”

“I’m hesitant to begrudge any defense attorney from doing what they think is best on an individual case for an individual client because I do believe that is our obligation,” Mr. Greco said. “At the same time, I don’t think I can endorse the use of Clearview.”

But Jonathan Lyon, who is the investigator resource coordinator at the National Association for Public Defense and who runs a website called Internet Sleuth, predicted “huge interest” in the technology. He said the facial recognition that Clearview offers would be a helpful tool, particularly for lawyers who were trying to track down people who had witnessed a fight or attended a party where criminal activity had occurred.

“From an investigator’s standpoint, any tool I can get my hands on, I want,” Mr. Lyon said. “Particularly if the other side has it. That, to me, is a win.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/18/technology/facial-recognition-clearview-ai.html